These passengers said in the complaint that "female passengers in several States were kidnapped, sexually assaulted, sexually abused, raped, illegally detained, stalked, harassed or otherwise attacked by Uber drivers".
The lawsuit was filed by the lawyer of Slater Schumann, a law firm, in the San Francisco County High Court. According to the law firm, about 550 customers have filed charges against Uber, and at least 150 customers are actively investigating.
"As early as 20 14, Uber knew about the sexual assault and rape of female passengers by its drivers. However, after these eight years, sex offenders who drive for Uber continue to attack passengers, including the plaintiff who made allegations in today's lawsuit. " Slater Shulman said in a press release.
Uber has not commented on this. The company said that in 20 19 and 2020, it received 3,824 reports on the five most serious types of sexual assault, from "involuntary kissing of non-sexual body parts" to "involuntary entry" or rape. Uber also said that compared with the first reports in 20 17 and 20 18, the number of reports of sexual assault cases received by the company decreased by 38%. It is unclear whether this was affected by the COVID-19 epidemic in 20 19, because the epidemic greatly reduced the number of passengers in 2020 and 20021year.
In recent years, Uber has also introduced a series of safety measures, such as screening registered Uber drivers once a year. However, Uber insists that it should not be responsible for drivers, because drivers are regarded as independent contractors, not employees.
Slater Schulman believes that Uber has long known about the existence of sexual assault crisis, but its response is too slow and far from enough, which has brought serious consequences.
Source Phoenix Satellite TV
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